Carlos Castaneda
| birth_place = Wikipedia:Cajamarca, Wikipedia:Perú | death_date = | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Author | nationality = American | period = 20th-century | genre = | subject = Wikipedia:Shamanism | movement = | notableworks = | influences = | influenced = | signature = | website = }} Carlos Arana Castañeda ( ; December 25, 1925 – April 27, 1998) was a Peruvian-American author with a Ph.D. in anthropology (WP). Starting with The Teachings of Don Juan:A Yaqui Wauy of Knowledge in 1968, Castañeda wrote a series of books that describe his training in shamanism (WP). The books, narrated in the first person, relate his experiences under the tutelage of a Yaqui "Man of Knowledge" named Don Juan Matus. His 11 books have sold more than 28 million copies in 17 languages. Critics have suggested that they are works of fiction; supporters claim the books are either true or at least valuable works of philosophy and descriptions of practices which enable an increased awareness. Castañeda withdrew from public view in 1973 to work further on his inner development, living in a large house with three women ("Fellow Travellers of Awareness") who were ready to cut their ties to family and changed their names. He founded Cleargreen, an organization that promoted tensegrity, purportedly a traditional Toltec regimen of spiritually powerful exercises. Early life Immigration records for Carlos César Salvador Arana Castañeda indicate that he was born on 25 December 1925 in Cajamarca, Peru.The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Volume 5: 1997–1999. Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. His first family name, Arana, is the paternal one, inherited from his father's paternal family name, César Arana Burungaray; while the second family name, Castañeda, is the maternal one, inherited from his mother's paternal family name, Susana Castañeda Navoa. His maternal surname appears with the Wikipedia:ñ in many Hispanic dictionaries, even though his famous published works display an anglicized version. He moved to the United States in the early 1950s and became a Wikipedia:naturalized citizen in 1957. Castañeda was educated at UCLA (B.A. 1962; Ph.D. 1973).De Mille (1976) Career Castañeda's first three books – Wikipedia:The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge; Wikipedia:A Separate Reality; and Wikipedia:Journey to Ixtlan – were written while he was an Wikipedia:anthropology student at the Wikipedia:University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He wrote these books as his research log describing his apprenticeship with a traditional "Man of Knowledge" identified as don Juan Matus, a Yaqui Indian from northern Mexico. Castañeda was awarded his bachelor's and Wikipedia:doctoral degrees based on the work described in these books. In 1974 his fourth book, Tales of Power, was published and chronicled the end of his apprenticeship under the tutelage of Matus. Castañeda continued to be popular with the reading public with subsequent publications. In his books, Castañeda narrates in first person the events leading to and following after his meeting Matus, a half-Yaqui "Man of Knowledge", in 1960. Castañeda's experiences with Matus inspired the works for which he is known. He also says the sorcerer bequeathed him the position of Nagual, or leader of a party of seers. He also used the term "nagual" to signify that part of perception which is in the realm of the unknown yet still reachable by man, implying that, for his party of seers, Don Juan was a connection in some way to that unknown. Castañeda often referred to this unknown realm as nonordinary reality. The term "nagual" has been used by anthropologists to mean a shaman or sorcerer who claims to be able to change into an animal form, or to metaphorically "shift" into another form through magic rituals, shamanism (WP) and experiences with psychoactive drugs (e.g., peyote (WP) and Jimson weed – Datura stramonium (WP).Castañeda, C: The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, pp. 88–120, Washington Square Press Publication, 1968 paperback ISBN 0-671-60041-9 In all,12 books by Castañeda were published, two posthumously. Castañeda was the subject of a cover article in the March 5, 1973 issue of Time. The article described him as "an enigma wrapped in a mystery." When confronted by correspondent Sandra Burton about discrepancies in his personal history, Castañeda responded by saying: "To ask me to verify my life by giving you my statistics... is like using science to validate sorcery. It robs the world of its magic and makes milestones out of us all". The interviewer wrote that Castañeda makes the reader experience the pressure of mysterious winds and the shiver of leaves at twilight, the hunter's peculiar alertness to sound and smell, the rock-bottom scrubbiness of Indian life, the raw fragrance of tequila and the vile, fibrous taste of peyote, the dust in the car, and the loft of a crow's flight. It is a superbly concrete setting, dense with animistic meaning. This is just as well, in view of the utter weirdness of the events that happen in it. Following that interview, Castañeda retired from public view. In the 1990s Castañeda once again began appearing in public to promote Tensegrity, a group of movements that he claimed had been passed down by 25 generations of Wikipedia:Toltec shamans. On 16 June 1995, articles of incorporation executed by George Short were filed to create Wikipedia:Cleargreen Incorporated. The Cleargreen statement of purpose says in part, "Cleargreen is a corporation that has a twofold purpose. First, it sponsors and organizes seminars and workshops on Carlos Castañeda's Tensegrity, and second, it is a publishing house." Cleargreen published three videos of Tensegrity movements while Castañeda was alive. Castañeda himself did not appear in these videos. Personal life In January 1960 Carlos married Margaret Runyan. Even though there are many rumors of a divorce in 1973, they were actually never divorced and were still married at the time of Carlos's death in 1998. On August 12, 1961, Carlton Jeremy Castañeda was born in Hollywood, California. Carlos spoke of CJ as his biological son and is listed on the younger Castañeda's birth certificate as his father. Castañeda also married Florinda Donner-Grau in Las Vegas in September 1993. According to his will of April 23, 1998, Castañeda adopted Wikipedia:Patricia Partin also known as Nuri Alexander. Death Castañeda died on April 27, 1998 in Los Angeles due to complications from hepatocellular cancer. There was no public service; Castañeda was cremated and the ashes were sent to Mexico. It was unknown until nearly two months later, on 19 June 1998, when an obituary entitled "A Hushed Death for Mystic Author Carlos Castaneda" by staff writer Wikipedia:J. R. Moehringer appeared in the Wikipedia:Los Angeles Times.Castañeda Obituary All Things Considered, June 19, 1998 Four months after Castañeda's death, C. J. Castañeda, also known as Adrian Vashon, whose birth certificate claims Carlos Castañeda as his father, challenged Castañeda's will in probate court. For many years Castañeda had referred to Vashon as his son. The will was signed two days before Castañeda's death and Vashon challenged its authenticity. The challenge was ultimately unsuccessful."Mystery Man's Death Can't End the Mystery; Fighting Over Carlos Castaneda's Legacy" by Peter Applebome, NY Times, August 19, 1998, retrieved September 3, 2008 Companions After Castañeda stepped away from public view in 1973, he bought a largeCastañeda house SOLD, This Multi-Family Home located at 10429 Eastborne Avenue, Los Angeles CA sold for $1,200,000 on Apr 30, 2009 house in Los Angeles10429 Eastborne Avenue, Los Angeles, CA - Google Maps which he shared with three of his female companions. The women broke off relationships with friends and family when they joined Castañeda's group. They also refused to be photographed and took new names: Regina Thal became Wikipedia:Florinda Donner-Grau, Maryann Simko became Wikipedia:Taisha Abelar and Kathleen Pohlman became Carol Tiggs. In the early 1990s, Florinda Donner-Grau and Taisha Abelar published two books purporting to describe their experiences with Don Juan and his party. Together with Carol Tiggs, they appeared and sometimes lectured at many of the Tensegrity workshops that began in July 1993, and Donner-Grau and Abelar appeared at book signings and gave occasional lectures and radio interviews as well. Shortly after Castañeda died, Donner-Grau and Abelar disappeared, along with Patricia Partin. Wikipedia:Amalia Marquez (also known as Talia Bey) and Tensegrity instructor Kylie Lundahl had their phones disconnected and also disappeared. On August 2, 1998, Carol spoke at a workshop in Wikipedia:Ontario. The remains of Partin, also referred to by Castañeda as Nury Alexander and/or Claude, were found in 2003 near where her abandoned car had been discovered a few weeks after Castañeda's death in 1998, on the edge of Wikipedia:Death Valley. Her remains were in a condition requiring DNA identification, which was made in 2006. Because the women had cut all ties with family and friends, it was some time before people noticed they were missing. There has been no official investigation into the disappearances of Donner-Grau, Simko and Lundahl. Luis Marquez, the brother of Talia Bey, went to police in 1999 over his sister's disappearance, but was unable to convince them that her disappearance merited investigation. Their opinion changed in 2006 after the remains of Patricia Partin were identified, and the LAPD finally added Bey to their missing person database.The Charley Project Reception Despite the widespread popularity of his works, some critics questioned the validity of Castañeda's books as early as 1969. In a series of articles, international banker and amateur mycologist Wikipedia:R. Gordon Wasson, who had originally praised Castañeda's work, questioned the accuracies of Castañeda's botanical claims.Wasson, R. Gordon. 1969. (Bk. Rev.). Economic Botany vol. 23(2):197. A review of Carlos Castañeda's "The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge.", Wasson, R. Gordon. 1972a. (Bk. Rev.). Economic Botany vol. 26(1):98–99. A review of Carlos Castañeda's "A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan."; Wasson, R. Gordon. 1973a. (Bk. Rev.). Economic Botany vol. 27(1):151–152. A review of Carlos Castañeda's "Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan."; Wasson, R. Gordon. . 1974. (Bk. Rev.). Economic Botany vol. 28(3):245–246. A review of Carlos Castañeda's "Tales of Power".; Wasson, R. Gordon. . 1977a. (Mag., Bk. Rev). Head vol. 2(4):52–53, 88–94. November. In 1976, author and Scientologist Wikipedia:Richard de Mille published Castaneda's Journey: The Power and the Allegory, in which he argued, "Logical or chronological errors in the narrative constitute the best evidence that Castañeda's books are works of fiction. If no one has discovered these errors before, the reason must be that no one has listed the events of the first three books in sequence. Once that has been done, the errors are unmistakable."De Mille (1976), p. 166 On these showings de Mille asserts, The Teachings of Don Juan and Journey to Ixtlan (his third book) cannot both be factual reports.De Mille (1976), pp. 170–171 For his part, Castañeda in the introduction to A Separate Reality, his second book, addressed the incomprehensible nature of his experiences as only being able to be understood in the context of the alien system of perception from which they arose, suggesting that his books are by their very nature contradictory and incomprehensible (as to time and place especially) to academic and critical inquiry. In a 1968 radio interview with Theodore Roszak, Castañeda, while confirming that his mystical experiences were absolutely true to life, did explain that he took some chronological license in his writing about actual events: "The way the books present it seems to heighten some dramatic sequences, which is, I'm afraid, not true to real life. There are enormous gaps in between in which ordinary things took place, that are not included. I didn't include in the book because they did not pertain to the system I wanted to portray, so I just simply took them away, you see. And that means that the gaps between those very heightened states, you know, whatever, says that I remove things that are continuous crescendos, in kind of sequence leading to a very dramatic solution. But in real life it was a very simple matter because it took years between, months pass in between them, and in the meantime we did all kinds of things. We even went hunting. He (Don Juan) told me how to trap things, set traps, very old, old ways of setting a trap, and how to catch rattlesnakes. He told me how to prepare rattlesnakes, in fact. And so that eases up, you see, the distrust or the fear." Castañeda's works were presented as real-life accounts, but critics held that they were fictional . At first, and with the backing of academic qualifications and the UCLA anthropological department, Castañeda's work was critically acclaimed. Notable anthropologists like Edward Spicer (1969) and Wikipedia:Edmund Leach (1969) praised Castañeda, alongside more alternative and young anthropologists such as Peter Furst, Barbara Myerhoff and Wikipedia:Michael Harner. The authenticity of Don Juan was accepted for six years, until Wikipedia:Richard de Mille and Daniel Noel both published their critical exposés of the Don Juan books in 1976. Most anthropologists had been convinced of Castañeda's authenticity until then – indeed, they had had little reason to question it – but some averred that de Mille's analysis disproved the veracity of Castañeda's work. Later anthropologists specializing in Yaqui Indian culture (William Curry Holden, Jane Holden Kelley and Edward H. Spicer), who originally supported Castañeda's account as true, questioned the accuracies of Castañeda's work. Others (including Dr. Clement Meighan) point out that the books largely, and for the most part, do not pretend to describe Yaqui culture at all with its emphasis on Catholic upbringing and conflict with the Federal State of Mexico, but rather focus on the international movements and life of Don Juan who was described in the books as traveling and having many connections, and abodes, in the Southwestern United States (Arizona), Northern Mexico, and Oaxaca. Don Juan was described in the books as a shaman steeped in a mostly lost Toltec philosophy and decidedly anti-Catholic. Dr. Clement Meighan, one of Castañeda's professors at UCLA, and an acknowledged expert on Indian culture in the U.S., Mexico, and other areas in North America, up to his death, never doubted that Castañeda's work was based upon authentic contact with and observations of Indians. Later, Miguel Ruiz also verified the existence of Indian "Brujos" in Mexico with native teachings much like Don Juan's. In The Power and the Allegory, De Mille compared The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge with Castañeda's library stack requests at the University of California. The stack requests documented that he was sitting in the library when allegedly his journal said he was squatting in Don Juan's hut. One discovery that de Mille alleges to have made in his examination of the stack requests was that when Castañeda was alleged to have said that he was participating in the traditional peyote ceremony – (the least fantastic of many episodes of drug use that Castañeda described in his books) – he was sitting in the UCLA library and he was reading someone else's description of their experience of the peyote ceremony. Other criticisms of Castañeda's work include the total lack of Yaqui vocabulary or terms for any of his experiences.Harris, Marvin (2001). Cultural materialism: the struggle for a science of culture. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. p. 322. A March 5, 1973 Time article by Sandra Burton, looking at both sides of the controversy, stated: David Silverman sees value in the work even while considering it fictional. In Reading Castañeda he describes the apparent deception as a critique of anthropology field work in general – a field that relies heavily on personal experience, and necessarily views other cultures through a lens. According to Silverman, not only the descriptions of Wikipedia:peyote trips but also the fictional nature of the work are meant to place doubt on other works of anthropology.David Silverman. Reading Castañeda: A Prologue to the Social Sciences. ISBN 978-0-7100-8146-9 Donald Wieve cites Castañeda to explain the insider/outsider problem as it relates to mystical experiences, while acknowledging the fictional nature of his work.Donald Wieve. "Does Understanding Religion Require Religious Understanding?" In Russel T. McCutcheon (ed.), The Insider/Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion. New York: Bath Press, 1999. p. 263. Related authors Two other authors, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau, wrote books in which they claimed to be from Matus' party of Wikipedia:Toltec warriors. Both Abelar and Donner-Grau were endorsed by Castañeda as being legitimate students of Matus, whereas he dismissed all other writers as pretenders. The two women were part of Castañeda's inner circle, which he referred to as "The Brujas," and both assumed different names as part of their dedication to their new beliefs. They were originally both graduate students in anthropology at UCLA. Felix Wolf, one of Carlos Castañeda's apprentices and translators, wrote The Art of Navigation: Travels with Carlos Castañeda and Beyond. In his book Wolf details how his life had been transformed by his association with Castañeda. While touching on all aspects of the teachings, Wolf highlights what he perceives to be the overriding and essential transmission that came through Castañeda's work: The Art of Navigation. Wikipedia:Amy Wallace wrote Sorcerer's Apprentice: My Life with Carlos Castañeda, an account of her personal experiences with Castañeda and his followers. In Carlos Castañeda e a Fenda entre os Mundos – Vislumbres da Filosofia Ānahuacah no Século XXI Brazilian writer Luis Carlos de Morais analyzes the work of Carlos Castañeda, its cultural implications, and its continuation in other authors. Sanchez's first book, The Teachings of Don Carlos: Practical Applications of the Works of Carlos Castaneda (1995), provides in-depth techniques and commentary on a path of "self-growth" based on the wisdom of the Toltec descendants. His approach in this book is bringing the proposals of Castaneda down to the earth focusing on those parts of Castaneda's book that can be applied in everyday life and used for personal development. Sanchez has published three further books: Toltecs of the New Millennium (1996), providing an overview of and background on the author's experiences with the Wikipedia:Wirrarika; The Toltec Path of Recapitulation: Healing Your Past to Free Your Soul (2001); and The Toltec Oracle (2004). Sanchez's recapitulation technique bears some resemblance to Sandra Ingerman's soul retrieval technique, but is probably the most comprehensive approach to the subject that has been published so far. Other shamanic teachers using similar techniques include Michael Harner, PhD founder of "Wikipedia:core shamanism", and Ken Page, founder of Heart and Soul Healing. Some have associated Sanchez's work with Toltec author Don Miguel Ángel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements. Tensegrity Bibliography *''The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, 1968. ISBN 0-520-21757-8. (Summer 1960 to October 1965.) *Wikipedia:A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan'', 1971. ISBN 0-671-73249-8. (April 1968 to October 1970.) *''Wikipedia:Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan'', 1972. ISBN 0-671-73246-3. (Summer 1960 to May 1971.) *''Tales of Power'', 1974. ISBN 0-671-73252-8. (Autumn 1971 to the 'Final Meeting' with don Juan Matus in 1973.) *''The Second Ring of Power'', 1977. ISBN 0-671-73247-1. (Meeting his fellow apprentices after the 'Final Meeting'.) *''The Eagle's Gift'', 1981. ISBN 0-671-73251-X. (Continuing with his fellow apprentices; and then alone with La Gorda.) *''The Fire From Within'', 1984. ISBN 0-671-73250-1. (Don Juan's 'Second Attention' teachings through to the 'Final Meeting' in 1973.) *''The Power of Silence: Further Lessons of Don Juan'', 1987. ISBN 0-671-73248-X. (The 'Abstract Cores' of don Juan's lessons.) *''Wikipedia:The Art of Dreaming, 1993. ISBN 0-06-092554-X. (Review of don Juan's lessons in dreaming.) *''Magical Passes: The Practical Wisdom of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico, 1998. ISBN 0-06-017584-2. (Body movements for breaking the barriers of normal perception.) *''The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe'', 1998. ISBN 0-9664116-0-9. (Selected quotations from the first eight books.) *''The Active Side of Infinity'', 1999. ISBN 0-06-019220-8. (Memorable events of his life.) See also * Tensegrity (Castaneda) * Wikipedia:Lucid dream * Wikipedia:Neoshamanism * Wikipedia:New Age * Wikipedia:Toltec (Castaneda) * Wikipedia:William Patrick Patterson * Wikipedia:Marlo Morgan Wikipedia:Template:Carlos Castaneda References * Further reading * Morais Junior, Luis Carlos de. Carlos Castaneda e a Fresta entre os Mundos: Vislumbres da Filosofia Ānahuacah no Século XXI (Carlos Castaneda and the Crack Between the Worlds: Glimpses of Ānahuacah Philosophy in the 21st Century). Rio de Janeiro: Litteris Editora, 2012. * Sanchez, Victor. The Teachings of Don Carlos: Practical Applications of the Works of Carlos Castaneda. Bear & Company, 1995. ISBN 1-879181-23-1 * Williams, Donald. Border Crossings: A Psychological Perspective on Carlos Castaneda's Path of Knowledge Inner City Books, 1981. * Collier, Richard "The River That God Forgot" (Background on Julio Cesar Arana, despotic rubber baron, Carlos Castaneda's paternal grandfather) E.P. Dutton & Co., N.Y., 1968. Library of Congress CATALOG CARD NUMBER:68-12451 * Torres, Armando "Encounters with the Nagual: Conversations with Carlos Castaneda" First Light Press, 2004. * Torres, Armando "The Secret of the Plumed Serpent: Further Conversations with Carlos Castaneda" Hade Publishing, 2014 (First published in Spanish as "El Secreto de la Serpiente Emplumada" by Editora Alba, 2010) External links *An Original: Richard de Mille, Carlos Castaneda, Literary Quackery « Science-Based Medicine - Wikipedia:Wallace Sampson * mp4 * * * *transcript: Carlos Castañeda Interviewed by Jane Hellisoe of the University of California Press, 1968, UCLA *youtube audio: Carlos Castañeda Interviewed by Jane Hellisoe of the University of California Press, 1968, UCLA * * Footnotes Category:Carlos Castaneda Category:1925 births Category:1998 deaths Category:American anthropologists Category:American spiritual writers Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Deaths from liver cancer Category:Peruvian emigrants to the United States Category:Shamanism of the Americas Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:Neoshamanism